Rhynie
by Actual Banshee
Summary: Duke reveals the most intimate parts about his past, the love of his life and how she died. He thought he had lost her forever, but the fates have proven otherwise. DukexOC a hint of NosedivexMallory and TanyaxWildwing
1. Chapter 1

**Mighty Ducks: Animated Series**

 **Author's note: This came out of left field. I made an OC and one thing led to another and I started writing this before I knew what was happening. It was like an out of body experience, I couldn't stop myself. I do not own Mighty Ducks. I'm such trash.**

 **Rhynie**

Bits and pieces of that day came back every other time he dreamed. He would have done anything to trade places with her in an instant. He would have given in anything to have her back in her arms, her head resting against his chest—her slender fingers intertwined with his. He would give up hockey to have her back alive.

To Duke, Rhynie was his whole world. If there had ever come a day when she wanted to stop thieving and live a normal life. He would have dropped everything for her. The one eyed duck would marry her and give her a family, he would happily live a normal, boring life with her. His buddies called him a wimp for being a slave for Rhynie's captivating blue eyes. He loved the way her hips swayed when she walked, how her words melted with her sultry voice and how her short brown hair fluttered in the wind. Every time she said his name, even when she was frustrated or angry, he fell deeper into her spell.

That dream of being with her forever came to a tragic end. After Draganous conquered all of Puck World, Duke and his merry band of thieves turned their feathers over and helped their people. They stole food, weapons, gathered intelligence for the military and occasionally blew up a droid armory.

"Duke, are you almost done?" Rhynie half asked and half ordered.

Duke chuckled, "You know, I'm having difficult time remembering who the leader is these days."

"Well if you hurried up, I'd let you remind me." Rhynie winked up at him.

Duke slid down the latter, wrapped an arm around the small of her back and brought her in for a quick, but passionate kiss, "I might take you up on that offer, sweet heart."

Rhynie pushed away from him with a finger on his chest and a teasing smile pulling him along. She held up the keys to the getaway vehicle. Duke reached for them, but Rhynie pulled away. He hooked his arm around her once more and while she was distracted with his tongue down her throat Duke swiped the keys out of her hand.

"You are so asking for it." He muttered before kissing her quickly, "We need to go, sweet heart."

"You're the one that's taking forever." Rhynie joked, reading her gun. She never liked guns; they weren't as elegant as her throwing knives. But they were efficient and the ammo was cheaper than her blades.

Duke led the way and just as they were about to cross the threshold, Rhynie heard a droid powering to life. Over her shoulder she saw the remains of the metal machine point its blaster at Duke.

"Look out!" Rhynie shouted as she pushed the male duck to the ground. Duke immediately shot up and used Rhynie's gun to take down the metal monster. He cheered loudly, turned around to share the minor victory with her, but he dropped the gun in shock.

"No, no, no, no, no, no, Rhynie!" Duke gently turned her over. Blood was seeping through cracks of her fingers, she struggled breathe and could barely keep her eyes open. He clutched her face, shaking it until her pained stayed opened.

"I'm gonna get you out of here." Duke attempted to pick her up, but a mangled cry escaped from her clenched teeth, "Or maybe not."

He cradled her body close to him and cringed when he moved her hand away to see the wound. She was losing too much blood, too fast. He knew Rhynie wouldn't last much longer if he didn't get her back to their vehicle.

"Duke," her voice cracked, her hand gently caressed his cheek, "The bombs."

He cursed loudly. He completely forgot about them, they probably had five minutes to escape the building, but not the blast zone. Especially if Duke had to carry her out.

"You need to go." Rhynie swallowed hard.

Duke shook his head violently, "I'm not leaving you."

"You don't have a choice." Rhynie clutched her necklace, snapped it off and snaked it into the middle of his palm.

Tears began to form in the male mallard's eye, "I can't leave you Rhynie."

"You never will." She leaned forward and kissed his cheek, "Get out of here Duke."

He knew she was right, she always was. With the little time he had, Duke hugged her upper body tightly before laying her flat on the ground. He pushed her hair out of her face and kissed her forehead—his brow furrowed with frustration as he held back his tears.

"I love you Rhynie."

Rhynie weakly smiled, "I love you too."

Duke lingered for a moment before he got to his feet and sprinted as fast as his legs and lungs would carry him. He nearly collapsed when he arrived at the car; his entire body was humming with adrenaline when the building exploded. Duke watched with a dreadful eye, he fell to his knees, staring down at the necklace that Rhynie gave him. The pink stone was from their first heist together, the stone took a hit from a laser bullet—breaking a piece off—saving Duke from possibly dying. He gave it to her when he finally gathered the courage to ask her to be his. He clenched it tightly and held it close to his heart.

A few months later Canard located the recently recluse thief, in a drunken stupor and smelling like a mixture of stale alcohol and sweat.

"Who are you?" Duke's words slurred as his hand blocked his eye from the sudden exposure to light.

"My name is Canard, Duke L'Orange. I've come to recruit you."

"Whatever it's for, I'm not interested." The drunken duck waved him off and went in search for a new beverage. Canard followed him through the littered house and slammed the fridge's door shut before Duke could grab anything. He forcefully turned the disheveled duck to face him, making the fridge shake in the process.

"I know about Rhynie, Duke. I know what happened to her." Canard stated sympathetically. The thumbed the pink stone around Duke's head. "One of your buddies told me all about you and her. "

Duke shoved his hand away and jabbed his finger into Canard's chest. "You don't know a damn thing."

"Rhynie Drake, second in command of the Brotherhood of the Blades, the love of your life, died tragically a few months ago while blowing up one of Draganous's armories. It's only been a few weeks since you've gone into hiding. Rhynie would kick your ass for turning into this."

Duke tore away from Canard's glare and staggered back into the living room, lazily falling onto the couch. Canard shook his head, realizing that Mallory was right about the ex-con. He thought giving Duke a new purpose would light a fire under his ass. Canard stopped at the door and glanced at the sorry site of Duke eyeing the empty bottle.

"Do what you want with your life Duke. You can stay here, get drunk and feel sorry for yourself. Or you can honor Rhynie's memory by fighting for the rebellion and bring some of her love into our world. It's your choice."

Duke sat there for a few minutes after Canard closed the door behind him. He weighed his options and debated internally on how long he could survive on just alcohol. He cupped Rhynie's necklace, his mind wondering into the past. Even though she was an outlaw, Rhynie did whatever she could to help those in need. Her life was contradictory and she loved it until her death. He knew very well what Rhynie would do to him if she saw him living like this. She'd probably kill him, dump him for being a loser and go out with a guy like Canard.

Duke stood suddenly and slamming open his door. Canard was leaning against the chipped blue wall with his arms crossed over his chest and smiling smugly towards the still drunk thief.

"Have you made your decision?"

"I have." Duke answered as confidently as he could without slurring his words. "I'll join for Rhynie."

Canard held his hand out; in turn Duke squeezed it, "Glad to have you. Now, let's get you cleaned up."

Now a year later Duke wasn't just fighting for Rhynie, now he had to fight for Canard. He hoped their war with Draganous would end soon, so he and his team could return to their world. He didn't know what he would do, Mallory would probably try to talk him into joining the military so his skills wouldn't go to waste. He thought about getting his old gang back together, to go back to the good ol' thieving days, but inside his heart he knew it wouldn't be the same.

"There's the Dukster!" Nosedive greeted the sleepy bird in his usual hyper active manner. "Eat your breakfast, buddy. You're gonna need it for the new killer plays Wing has come up with."

Duke grumbled and ran a hand through his hair, "Can you not Nosedive?"

"What's wrong, buddy? You look a little sick. Did you have a bad dream?" Nosedive joked, snickering at what kind of nightmare his friend could have.

Duke sat at the island, in the kitchen, and rubbed his face with his hands. "I didn't have a nightmare, it was a memory. A really bad one."

The vague explanation only peeked the hot shot's attention even more, but he noticed the pain in his teammate's expression. Nosedive put the cereal box away before he joined the ex con at the table.

"How bad?" He whispered.

"I don't want to talk about it." Duke groaned.

Nosedive pouted, he wanted to know more about his friend, Duke only revealed a little about himself and that made the team distrust him a little at times.

Duke sighed, "Fine. If you must know and clearly you must. It was about a girl."

"How is that bad?" Nosedive paused, "Did she use a whip?"

"What? No!" Duke blushed, "She was my partner, the love of my life and she died months before Canard recruited me."

"Oh." Nosedive's gaze fell to the surface of the table, "I'm sorry to hear that man. What was her name?"

"Rhynie." When Duke spoke her name it was still full of love, but a deep sadness had taken root—he missed her so much. He had his days when he just stayed in his room to agonize over the dull ache in his chest. "You two probably would have gotten along pretty well."

"Yea, how?"

"She was a little bit of a prankster and cared a lot about us, our people. Especially the kids. She was passionate about the things she did, even if they didn't make sense." Duke left out the intimate parts of her, he wanted to keep those a secret for as long as he could. "Rhynie was always serious during a fight and would put her own life in danger to save another."

"Is that how she died?" Nosedive asked quietly, not really sure if he should ask.

Duke nodded numbly, "She died protecting me."

Nosedive gripped his buddy's shoulder, "That's rough buddy."

"I had to leave her there, Nosedive. She didn't give me a choice and before I could think of going back to get her the armory exploded. She was stubborn until the very end."

"Stubborn chicks are hot." Nosedive said, absent mindedly thinking about Mallory. Duke had to agree with his friend on that, Rhynie was incredibly adorable when she was being too stubborn to ask for help.

Nosedive elbowed Duke in the ribs and wiggled his brow. "So what kind of blade did she use?" He knew the basics of Duke's old gang, that each of his members wielded a different type of blade.

"Throwing knives. She could hit a target with her eyes closed and no one could beat her at darts. She never missed."

"How'd you meet?" Nosedive asked, resting his blonde head in his propped up arm. He was a sucker for these types of stories, he would occasionally ask his parents how they met until he had it memorized.

Before Duke could share the embarrassing story, the intruder alarm echoed annoyingly throughout the base. The two ducks sprang into action, meeting everyone by Drake One with their weapons drawn and aimed at the slowly appearing green light.

"Who's the party crasher?" Nosedive asked, "My money is on Chameleon."

The silhouette came into focus and slowly Duke lowered his saber until it slid from his grasp completely. Dropping to the floor with a loud clang.

"Duke the enemy isn't the floor." Mallory said angrily, her intense glare dropped when she saw her comrade's shocked expression. "What's wrong?"

"It's can't be." Duke's perplexed expression threw everyone off guard, the normal stoic Duke was gone—he almost looked afraid.

The figure before them was finally clear, a female duck who was an inch or two shorter than Duke. Her short brown hair was a curly mess, as if she was fighting someone before teleporting into the pond. Duke wasn't one hundred percent positive that it was her until her dazzling blue eyes locked onto his.

Nosedive shook his friend's shoulder, "You alright man? You look like you've seen a…"

"Rhynie?" Duke didn't mean to shout her name, but the not-so-dead duck collapsed into his arm before she hit the ground.

"Rhynie? As in your dead girlfriend, Rhynie? The one we were just talking about?" Nosedive asked, starting to freak out, "Zombies do exist."

Wildwing kneeled next to his comrade as he cradled her close to his chest. The leader looked over the girl with his mask, confirming that she wasn't Chameleon in disguise and that she was, in did, alive. He noticed how frozen Duke was, the color draining from his face as he went into shock. Tanya was beside Wildwing, checking her girl's vitals.

"Do zombies normally have a pulse?" Tanya asked over her shoulder towards Nosedive.

"Uh no, no they don't." The little brother powered down his weapon and tucked it away. "Now what?"

"Now we take her and Duke to the infirmary." Wildwing commanded, he gripped his friend's shoulder, helped him and made sure that he didn't collapse with the girl in his arms.

 **Author's note: So I'm not sure how I feel about this.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter Two**

 **Author's note and disclaimer: Apparently, this is happening. I do not own MDAS.**

 **Update: I'm just putting this out there because I had no idea where the chapter was going, but this is a trigger warning for drinking and suicide.**

While Tanya and Wildwing looked after Duke and Rhynie, Nosedive shared the story about their past. Explaining why Duke went into shock when the love of his life, who he thought had died over a year ago, suddenly appeared before them.

Mallory held up the teleporter that zapped Rhynie into their base. "So how'd she get her hands on one of Draganous's teleporters?"

Nosedive opened his beak to reply, but then snapped it shut. "I actually have no idea."

"She could be a spy." Grin offered calmly, not meaning any harm.

"Like Lucrecia." Tanya added, as she held a scanner over the girl's body. "From what I can tell she's not under any spell or a mind control chip."

"So what are the chances that she _is_ a spy?" Wildwing asked.

"Slim." Duke suddenly spoke, sitting up in his bed. "Rhynie would never work for that monster."

"Up until a few hours ago, you thought she was dead. So how can you be sure?" Mallory asked.

"Because I've known Rhynie for years. She's always put the needs of others before her own, how do you think she ended up dead in the first place? She may have been one of the best out laws, but she never hurt anyone, not unless she was defending herself."

Duke and Mallory were inches away from each other, glaring each other down until Wildwing and Grin forced them apart. "Knock it off, both of you. We can't be sure about anything until Rhynie wakes up. Until then, everyone watches her in shifts. Grin you're first."

"Wildwing there's no need for that, I can watch her." Duke offered.

"I'm sorry Duke, I know how much you want to be with her right now, but there are some things we need to discuss." Wildwing noticed Mallory glaring in Duke's direction, "Alone."

"Wildwing you can't be serious." Mallory objected. Wildwing approached the red headed duck and whispered in her ear, "I understand."

Mallory left the infirmary, followed by Duke and the boys, leaving Tanya and Grin to look after Rhynie. Eventually Tanya left when she couldn't find anything medically wrong with her, needing something to eat and offered to bring something back for their muscle. Duke and Wildwing drove around until they found a secluded location, a few miles out of Anaheim, to talk.

"Are you positive Rhynie would never work Draganous?" Wildwing asked.

"Just gonna soft ball it in there?" Duke replied sarcastically, "I'm positive Wing."

"You were positive that she was dead, but now she's back. Why would Draganous save her?"

"We're not sure if he even saved her at all." Duke retorted angrily.

"She had one of his teleporters." Wildwing loved playing the devil's advocate, maybe a little too much, but it was the only way to get Duke to talk to him.

"She could have been one of his prisoners." Duke suggested.

"So then she survived getting shot and blown up? How?"

Duke paused and then sat on the ground in defeat, "I don't know Wildwing. I honestly don't have a clue."

Wildwing sighed and took a seat next to his comrade, "I don't mean to be harsh, Duke. I'd just hate to see you get involved with her again, only for her to work for the dark side and get your heart broken again."

"Dark side? You and Tanya have been watching Star Wars again, haven't you?" Duke chuckled, but his light mood quickly switched to a depression vulnerability that he had never shown anyone before. "I had such a hard time letting her go, Wing. I don't know if Canard told you, but when he recruited me I was a drunken mess. If he hadn't talked me into joining I probably would have died weeks after meeting with him. And honestly I would have welcomed it."

Wildwing was at a loss for words, but he knew where his friend was coming from. Watching Canard die before his eyes helped him understand Duke's point of view even better than their teammates.

The leader gripped his friend's shoulder, "For right now, we'll just keep an eye on her. The last time we trusted someone we almost drowned."

Duke groaned, remembering the fight he and Nosedive had over Lucrecia, only to end up in a tank and almost drowning in it. "Don't remind me."

When the boys returned Nosedive sprinted up to them, "Yo, she's awake and I don't know how much longer Grin and Tanya can keep Mallory from interrogating her."

The three ran for the infirmary where they saw Grin pick Mallory up and toss her over his shoulder after apologizing. She struggled to get free while Tanya and the others went inside and locked the door.

"What's going on?" The four turned on their heel to find Rhynie standing, aiming a gun at them.

"Take it easy Rhynie, you're safe." Wildwing spoke quietly with his hands up.

Rhynie panicked and locked her gun onto the fearless leader, "Who are you? Where am I?"

"We're from Puck World just like you, but we're on Earth now fighting Draganous." Wildwing stopped moving towards the scared girl when he heard her take the safety off.

Duke stepped in front of Wildwing blocking her shot. Rhynie's eyes widened in shock. "He's telling the truth Rhynie. We're not going to hurt you."

"Duke?" Her voice was barely a whisper, "What's going on?"

"We'll get to that. I just need you to put down the gun, so we can talk, okay? I promise you, no one is going to hurt you, sweet heart." Duke spoke gently as he slowly approached the shaking girl. He gripped the trembling gun and slid it out of her hands, handing it backwards to Wildwing and as soon as the gun was gone Duke embraced Rhynie; tucking her head into his chest while his arm wrapped around her back. Rhynie crumbled into him, letting go of her fear and hooked her arms underneath his arm pits—clutching the material of his uniform in her hands.

 **Author's note: The amount of love I have for this chapter, especially the ending, is sickening.**


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter Three**

 **Author's note: I didn't expect to fall in love with this story as much as I have. Clearly it has taken a life of its own. And can I just say, thank god I watch Criminal Minds. I do not own MDAS and I just realized that I've been spelling Dragaunus's name wrong the entire time.**

Wildwing had to talk to Mallory before they could ask Rhynie any questions. Giving Duke enough time to calm Rhynie down from her panic attack.

"I can understand your frustrations Mallory, but you need to back off." Wildwing warned.

"She's a spy, Wildwing!" Mallory shouted.

Wildwing's patience finally snapped, "We have no proof that she is!"

"We don't have proof that she's not!"

Wildwing and Mallory were moments away from tearing into each other when Tanya and Nosedive appeared before them.

"We'd hate to break up your predictable fight, but Tanya found something." Nosedive said, as he pushed Mallory away from his older brother.

Wildwing took a couple of deep breathes before turning towards Tanya, "What'd you find?"

"Something that I didn't even consider until I saw some markings on Rhynie's wrists and ankles." She pulled out a photo and held it up to the light. "Do you see these markings and how each of them are different color? Those indicate levels of healing at different times."

"Yea, what about them?" Mallory asked.

"Well I'm not expert, but these are signs of being restrained more than once for hours at a time. Days even." Tanya explained.

"You can't be serious? Tanya are you saying Rhynie was being held as a captive by Dragaunus?" Mallory asked, suddenly feeling like crap.

"Not just as a captive." Tanya held up an x-ray of her rib cage in place of the photo, "I didn't want to show this in front of Duke. But this tiny faded cracks are just like her scars on her wrists and ankles. They indicate a year of abuse, so Rhynie either got into a lot fights or…"

"Or Dragaunus was torturing her. There's your proof."

"And I feel like a jerk." Mallory's shoulders sunk.

Nosedive wrapped an arm around her shoulders, "Its okay Mal. It wouldn't be a day if you didn't jump to conclusions."

"Thanks…I think." Mallory said, pinking Nosedive's hand until he released her. "I promise to keep my beak shut while we're in there. And I'll apologize to Duke…later."

Wildwing shrugged, smiling meekly as they walked into the room, "Good enough."

Duke was sitting next to Rhynie, leaning forward on his knees with his hands clenching together. He was glancing up at her with love in his eye as she finished drinking her water. When she was done, Duke didn't kiss her forehead or called her Sweet Heart when he took the cup away to fetch her another glass. The others were a little surprised because Duke always seemed like a helpless romantic, but Duke knew something was wrong. He had seen the scars on her body and just by looking into her eyes he didn't the confident glow her blue eyes once held. Instead, he saw someone who was broken and scared.

"Rhynie, if you're up for it, we'd like to ask you some questions." Wildwing spoke calmly.

"I was a double agent." Rhynie admitted freely, catching everyone off guard. "I worked for Dragaunus and the PSF. I gave Dragaunus's forces faulty information while telling the military everything. But the enemy found out somehow and sent me straight to Dragaunus."

Rhynie clutched one of her wrists, rubbing the sore skin, and opening and closer her hand. The other's understood her situation immediately.

"He did this to you for a year?" Wildwing asked. "We've been inside the raptor several times and never saw a sign of you. Not even in the dungeons."

"Wraith kept me locked away inside a pocket dimension, so I'm not surprised. When I saw my chance to escape, I took it and grabbed Chameleon's teleporter. I don't know or why it brought me here."

Duke took one of her hands into his and peered into her eyes. "I need to know how you escaped."

Rhynie took a moment to collect her thoughts. "I'm not really sure myself, one minute I'm lying on the ground dying, expecting the explosion and then I'm suddenly inside a Saurian ship with droids all around me."

"They must've heard about your plan to blow up the base." Nosedive suggested.

"Then someone in our group tipped them off." Rhynie and Duke glared at each other and then said in unison. "Falcone."

"I told you we couldn't trust him." Rhynie gloated.

"Yea and you never stopped reminding me." Duke chuckled, "It's probably a good thing that he's locked up in a London jail."

"I think we have all the answers we need, so we'll leave you two alone." Wildwing stated as he pushed his teammates out of the room. "Rhynie if you need anything just let Duke know."

"Let me show you around." Duke held his hand out and when Rhynie reached for it—flashing her scar—he cringed.

"What's wrong?"

Duke swallowed hard, "It's nothing. I just…do these hurt?"

He held the back of her hands in his palms as gentle as possible. Rhynie clenched her hands shut, "Not really. They're just disgusting to look at."

Duke stood and wondered over to a cabinet full of gauze and ointment and began to treat each of her injuries. She winced a few times when finished tying up the protective material.

"Sorry, my hands have gotten a bit rough." He apologized quietly.

"They always have been." Rhynie retorted, "But I've never really minded them."

Duke beamed up at her, ready to say something witty and sarcastic, but that quickly faded when he saw the tears in her Rhynie's eyes. He cupped her face, using his thumbs to wipe away the tears that fell. He joined her on the bed, laying all the back with her resting in between his legs—her head on his chest. His arms wrapped around her tightly when Rhynie's sobbing shook the both of them. He thought that he would have broken down as well, but the shock had finally passed and he was able to think clearly. Duke couldn't even imagine what kind of hell Rhynie went through for the past year, but he knew one thing for certain. He needed to be strong for her for episodes like these.

After Rhynie fell asleep, Duke carried her to his room and tucked her into his bed. He sat on the floor beside her and watched as she peacefully slept for the first time in months. Duke caressed her cheek until she sighed deeply and smiled a little at the warmth. He left her when he knew that she was deep asleep and walked into the kitchen to find Mallory and Nosedive sitting across from each other—talking. For the last few months the two had gotten close and even though Nosedive was open about it, Mallory was still denying the reality of their relationship. Not that any of them cared that they were dating, if anything Nosedive's laid back demeanor smoothed the female's stubborn edges and Mallory had the same effect on the hot dogging duck.

"Hey." He greeted quietly, pouring himself a tall glass of coffee; knowing that he's not going to be able to sleep at all.

"How's Rhynie?" Nosedive asked scooting over to make room for his buddy.

"Asleep, finally." He leaned back into the cushioned bench.

Nosedive kicked Mallory from across the table and tilted his head towards Duke, who wasn't paying attention to the two.

Mallory quickly dropped her glare and turned towards Duke. She cleared her throat to gain his attention, "Listen Duke, I'm…I'm sorry."

"About?" Nosedived said as he glanced to the side and pretended to take a swig from his cup.

"I'm sorry about jumping to conclusions about Rhynie."

"And?" Nosedive was smirking as he pushed Mallory along.

"And I'm happy for you. I hope that she thinks of this place like home and…" She paused to glare at Nosedive before he could interrupt, "I'll try not act hostile towards her or you...anymore. You've earned my trust a long time ago, I was just too stubborn to admit it."

The male ducks gawked at each other and then at Mallory, "You feelin' okay Mal-Mal?" Duke leaned forward and touched her forehead with the back of his hand.

She shoved his hand away and glared at the two jokesters before getting up and storming out of the kitchen. The buddies glanced at each other through the corner of their eyes and broke out in boisterous laughter.

 **Author's note: Feels. That is all.**


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter Four**

 **Author's note: I didn't think I'd be up this late starting this, not after the eventful day that I've had. There was a Japanese Festival in town and I spent seven hours there, buying a bunch of anime posters, key charm things, delicious bread and going to several different panels. I learned a lot about the real life samurais and got to bond with my bff's other bff. We bonded over our love for the Justice League and Harley Quinn. So needless to say, I've had an eventful day. Oh and I got to wear a real kimono and got my picture taken. Kimono's are surprisingly comfortable to wear.**

 **I'm shocked to see that Rhynie has gotten so popular, I'm not joking. I love receiving all of your reviews~! Keep them coming because they literally keep me going. I do not own MDAS.**

Rhynie slept for three days, Duke was never far and Tanya visited frequently to play doctor. The scientist reported every other hour that Rhynie's injuries were healing nicely, which gave everyone a sense of relief. The team didn't want to get their hopes up, but they hoped Rhynie would join them in their fight against Dragaunus.

"You can't be serious?" Duke was frustrated. Rhynie had just woken up hours ago and was currently with Tanya in the showers. She still hasn't wrapped her head around her situation and Wildwing was already preparing for war.

"She has insider information about the Raptor, she can get us inside and we can finally finish off Dragaunus. We can go home." Wildwing was anxious to get home, they all were, but Rhynie needed more time.

Duke scowled and spoke through clench teeth, "My answer is no."

"I'm not trying to take sides here, but isn't this Rhynie's decision?" Nosedive asked. The arguing teammates glared at their youngest member and then back at each other.

Mallory sighed and scratched the back of her head, "I hate to side with Nosedive, but he is right. All of this is Rhynie's decision and I can tell you right now, from a soldier's point of view, she's going to have some serious P.T.S.D."

Wildwing temporarily dropped the subject, especially when Duke walked out in the middle of their meeting. He passed Tanya on the way and asked to talk their fearless leader out of his crazy plan for the time being. She couldn't promise anything, but she agreed with Mallory's theory of the possibility of Rhynie having P.T.S.D.

He walked into his room, half expecting Rhynie to still be in the shower room, but when he looked up from the stats of their next hockey game opponent he nearly jumped out of his skin. Rhynie was standing before a bunch of newspaper clippings of thwarted crimes, victorious hockey games and battles against Dragaunus. She was ringing her hair dry with a towel, while a short white towel clung to her body.

Paper fluttering to the ground caught her attention. She beamed up at him, "How'd your meeting go?"

Duke stuttered, his cheeks flushing, "N-n-not exactly good, but we can talk about that later. Let me find you some clothes."

Rhynie followed Duke around while he searched for something for her to wear, he could hardly think with her being unable to keep herself covered. He managed to find one of his jerseys and a pair of shorts, giving up on finding anything that would fit her. He could have asked Mallory, but even her clothes would have been a tent on his love. She was skinner than he remembered, he couldn't remember if she was that tiny when he last saw her or if she lost that weight during her year of torment.

He kept his back turned to her until he felt her nimble fingers grasp his shoulder. Duke turned around and Rhynie walked right into him, her arms wrapping around him; burying her face in his chest. He was a little shocked at first, but he eventually embraced her, his arms holding her close—never wanting to let her go again. He could never get used to holding her, to feel her warmth as if she had never died. The grip around her back tightened as Duke shifted his arms to her shoulders and lower back, his face hiding in the nook of her neck. They fell back against the wall and slid down to the floor.

"Duke…" Rhynie struggled to move her head to look up at him.

"I'm sorry," Duke apologized, "It's still a little hard to believe that you're alive."

His hold loosened, Rhynie positioned herself to sit sideway in his lap; her back resting against Duke's propped up knees while her legs towered over his right leg. Her head rested against his shoulder while she looked up at him. Duke could see that she was tired; the bags underneath her blue eyes and hazed expression gave her away. She leaned into the hand that caressed her face, her long eyelashes tickling his dark grey skin and placed one of her hands on top of his.

"I know the feeling." She whispered as she leaned in to kiss him, but Duke stopped her by turning his head away. "What's wrong?"

"It's nothing…I just…" Duke swallowed the lump in his throat. "You've been through a lot. I don't want you to do anything that you're not ready for."

"What would make you think that?" Rhynie pouted.

"Well for starters, you're shaking." Duke held up her hand to prove his point.

She angrily pulled her hand out of his, her glare burning a hole in the carpet, "I'm just excited, that's all."

Duke was shocked, she had never lie to him before and he had never seen her look so hateful. He cupped her face and forced her to look at him, but she still avoided his gaze.

"Hey, would you look at me?" Duke pathetically begged, but she refused him.

Rhynie stood, walking away from Duke before he caught her by the wrist. He immediately released her when she yelped in pain. She turned her back towards him while rubbing the sensitive flesh. Duke sauntered up to her, holding her from behind and gave her a cheek a quick peek.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to do that." Duke whispered in her ear, "I'm used to chasing harden criminals and Saurian losers. I guess I have to relearn how to chase a hot tail feather like you."

Rhynie rotated around in his arms, laughing. "While you're at it, learn some new pickup lines because that was terrible."

Duke placed a hand over his heart as if he had been shot, "That hurts Rhynie. I'm trying to comfort you and you just shoot me down."

Rhynie grabbed him by the cheeks and smooshed them together, "I forgot how much of a drama queen you are."

There was a loud ponding on the door, "Yo Duke! Phils' here, he wants us to start practicing."

"Who's Phil and why does he sound disappointing?" Rhynie asked sarcastically.

Duke held in his laugher long enough to tell Nosedive that he would there shortly and as soon as the youngest duck was gone Duke broke out in boisterous laughter, leaning over and using Rhynie for support. The one eyed duck talked Rhynie into coming to their practice and the moment she met their manager she leaned over to Duke who had just finished putting on the rest of his gear to tell him that she was right. He entered the ring snickering, leaving the rest of his teammates wondering what he was one.

Wildwing approached Duke, "Can Rhynie skate?"

"That depends on what you had in mind." Duke replied vaguely.

"Just a little game of two against five. What position does she play?" Wildwing and Duke skated towards Rhynie, but they kept their voices hushed.

"She's a great defenseman, she can either play offense or defense. But it's really up to her."

"What's up to me?" Rhynie asked bright eyed.

"How would you like to shake things up?" Wildwing asked mischievously.

Rhynie beamed, "I'm in for shaking things up. What did you have in mind?"

Wildwing informed her of his plan while they ventured back to the locker room to find her some gear. Duke and the others practiced their slap shots while the two were away.

"So what exactly are we in for?" Mallory asked apprehensively.

Duke chuckled darkly, "Let me put it to you this way Mal. She's a rare defenseman, she play both offense and defense and can switch between the two at the drop of a hat. She can defend the net as if she were defending someone's life, but her offensive is brutal. I have never seen anyone match her skills on the ice."

 **Author's note: I can't think of another place to stop, so this is good enough.**


	5. Chapter 5

**Author's note and disclaimer: Truth to be told, I had no idea how to continue with chapter five. I still have no idea how to put a hockey game into words, I'm still doing a lot of research. So for right now, I'm not going to go into great details about the practice…I think...I still don't know. I've been tired a lot lately and no matter how much sleep I get it's never enough. I think I just need a day where I just sleep or stay in bed. Maybe its because I've cut back on my sugar and caffeine intake. Who the hell knows lol**

 **A quick shout to those who have read and commented on Rhynie. Your reviews keep me going, so keep them coming~!**

 **I do not own MDAS. NOW ONWARD TO CHAPTER FIVE~!**

 **Chapter Five**

Practice didn't go well. It did at first. Rhynie kept the pucks away from Wildwing, rocketing majority of them down the rink. Her defense was the toughest they had ever seen, her mind games confused Nosedive to the point where he lost the puck several times. When Duke and Rhynie faced off everyone though Duke would take it easy on her. Surprisingly enough, the two went at each other like old enemies. Trash talking each other without remorse. At one point, Mallory thought she was going to die from laughing so hard. Rhynie and Duke were fighting for the puke, she batted her long eye lashes at him, puckered her lips and called his name in a seductive tone—catching him off guard. Before he knew it Rhynie had slapped the puck so hard and so fast, it had nearly missed the other goal. Wildwing and Rhynie high fived and decided that one play should be good for the day.

The opposing team regrouped for a moment, coming up with a plan to attempt to get a score, but their hopes weren't set high. They had forgotten what it was like to play against another duck and realized how weak humans were compared to them.

Wildwing recognized the look of determination in his brother's eyes, "Be prepared for anything Rhynie. They're up to something."

The grip on her stick tightened as she took his words to heart, her eyes locked on to his little brother's and saw what he saw. A plan that was about to boil over that could either fail miserable or finally get them a point. Tanya and Grin advanced first, hoping to grab her attention, but she was glued to Nosedive. Mallory and Duke kept pace with each other, skating circles around Wildwing and his net. It was just Nosedive and Rhynie, she stayed out of Wildwing's way, sensing that the youngest drake would take a shot no matter. They clashed sticks as one fought to gain the puck and the other fought to keep it.

Rhynie broke free, taking the black disk and was about to spank it down the rink when Grin came out of nowhere and checked her into the boards. Compared to his other body slams against actual opponent, it felt like nothing, but the simple act sent Rhynie into a trembling fit. When she fell to her knees, gasping for air and her fist clutching the uniform where her heart was Duke rushed to her aid. He slid off her helmet, her hair falling to cover her face.

"Rhynie talk to me, what's wrong?"

She couldn't speak, it felt as if she were being strangled. Rhynie peeked at Duke and his heart nearly burst. The pain was evident in her glossed over eyes, tears soaking her feathers. The one eyed drake was at a loss, he had no idea what to do. Panic was beginning to set in as he tried to figure out how to help her, but his mind was a blank slate. Wildwing placed a hand on the thief's shoulder, ordering him to take her to the infirmary. Duke collected her in his arms, as if she weighed nothing with all the gear on and followed Tanya to the medical room.

After everyone removed their gear and took a quick shower they waited outside the infirmary to hear anything from either duck. Duke's voice could barely be heard through the thick doors, it was calm—peaceful—trying to talk her down from whatever was happening.

Wildwing glanced over at the muscle bound defenseman, he appeared to be unaffected by the whole thing, but the leader knew better than to trust Grin's stoic expression.

Walking over, he patted his large bicep and smiled. "This isn't your fault Grin, you know that right? We couldn't have known Rhynie would react that way."

"Thank you for your kind words, Wildwing." Grin meant to add onto his thought, but Tanya walked out still in full gear, minus the skates and gloves.

"How is she?" Wildwing asked.

"I knocked her out with some uh heavy duty sleeping pills. But Duke was able to uh calm her down enough for it to, you know, work." Tanya ran her hand through her blonde hair, "Still though. I've never seen a panic attack like that before. I need to do a little more uh research on the subject."

"I can help you with that. A lot of my military buddies had them because of their P.T.S.D." Mallory offered as she followed Tanya to the lockers so she could change.

Wildwing half asked, half ordered his little brother to go pick them up some food before he and Grin walked into the infirmary. Just like before Duke was at her side, wiping away sweat her fever produced with a damp wash cloth. He had taken off most of his gear, except the under armor and neatly laid it all in his chair.

"You should go get cleaned up. We can watch her." Wildwing offered softly.

Duke shook his head, "I'm not leaving her, Wing."

"You want to tell us why?"

Grin approached the sleeping duck and placed a hand over her forehead. His brow furrowed as the big guy sensed the anguish inside her, "Her aurora has darkened. A storm that she has fought to hold back has finally erupted."

"That's why."

Wildwing sighed, rolling his eyes. He hated how stubborn Duke could be sometimes, "Take a shower for Rhynie's sake. Your B.O will probably put her in a coma."

Their leader had a point and Duke took it more as an order than a suggestion. He made them promise to call him immediately as soon as she woke up, but they knew that wouldn't happen because Tanya gave her enough sleeping medication to knock out a horse for two days.

It had taken months for Rhynie to fully recover, but that didn't stop the lizards from using her whenever and however they want. Every time she refused a mission to spy on her people they'd torture her until she complied. Those sessions lasted for days, the longest ran for two weeks and every time the duck she met with to pass along information offered her medical help. But Rhynie refused, saying that if she went back to the Saurians patched up that they'd suspect her.

The day the general of the Saurians found out about Rhynie's double agent status they threw her into a cell. They didn't feed her for days and when they finally came for her she thought they were finally going to put her out of her misery. She was wrong, however, so very wrong. They had chained her to a cold, steal bed, the clasp rubbing her feathers the wrong way and over time—raw. Their tortures varied from burning her feathers off, electrocuting her, water tortures, sleep deprivation, starvation—all in order to find out who she told their plans to, but she never gave a name.

When the general couldn't break her, he sent her to Dragaunus with the help of one of his magical advisors. The general reported to Dragaunus that their methods weren't working on her and that they should try a different approach. With a diabolical smile and smoldering eyes Dragaunus happily gave Rhynie to Wraith. His tortures were more in the mind than physical, he zapped her a few times with a couple of bolts of lightning, but within a few months Rhynie was broken. She didn't care how long they tortured her, she didn't feel anything.

All of her hopes were lost until she heard Siege complaining about the Mighty Ducks. She didn't know where she was, but if there were other ducks fighting against the Saurians, then she needed to escape.

With a new found fire Rhynie was able to escape after Wraith left her alone. In the midst of escaping and using Chameleon as a meat shield, she swiped his teleporter and disappeared to the location he was locked on.

 **Author's note: I'm done. My allergies are killing me and I'm getting really irritated with the phone going off every five minutes.**


	6. Chapter 6

**Author's Note: I have band aids on my face to keep me from picking at scabs. I'm such a gross human being. I have nothing else to say. It's a pretty boring Sunday. I do not own MDAS.**

 **Chapter Six**

 **Whenever Rhynie slept she had nightmares and would occasionally wake up screaming. Duke did his best to help her, but she refused to talk about it. Even Grin, with all of his spiritual training and Jedi mind tricks, couldn't get her to open up. The only person who could help her was Tanya and her supply of sleeping medication. The pills put Rhynie in such a deep sleep it kept the memories away. And that's all she did, she slept. When she awake, she never left Duke's bed, not even to eat. She lay there, staring at whatever Duke or Nosedive brought her. She stayed wrapped up in her own world, while Duke's patience worn thin.**

 **"** **I can't stand seeing her like this." Duke gripped his mug to the point Mallory thought he was going to break it.**

 **She rested her hand on top of it and slid it away. "She's depressed Duke, just be there for her."**

 **Duke shouted, "How? She won't talk to me, she won't eat. At this rate I'm gonna end up losin' her again."**

 **Mallory rolled her eyes; Duke's dramatics were, as usual, over the top. The red headed duck stood, leaned in close to Duke and glared into his eyes. "Duke I'm saying this as a friend. If you don't sack up and be there for her, Rhynie is only going to get worse. So stop your whining and go let her know that no matter what, that you'll be there for her or so help me I will let Nosedive do the ultimate prank that he's been planning for the last three months."**

 **She left him in the kitchen fearing for his life. Knowing Nosedive the prank was big and if he had been planning it for the last few months then it had to be good. The only reason why he hasn't deployed said prank was because of Mallory. She was like the safety on a gun and if something or someone pissed her off she would press the switch and release the trigger. And Duke would hate it if that reason was him.**

 **He sat there for a few more minutes, to finish his coffee before he placed it in the sink and left. Duke didn't realize who late it was until he walked by the television room and saw Nosedive deep in the horror movie marathon he hadn't stopped talking about for the last few days. Bottles and cans of soda littered the floor, snack wrappers were in a neat pile and the room smelled like sweat and feet. How they put up with him, was beyond him.**

 **Duke entered his dark room, the only light illuminating from his bed—a lamp that Rhynie had her back to. He took his time getting ready for bed, knowing that Rhynie would still be the same lump on the mattress. When he was finished and his body and mind felt ready for bed, rested, and only seeing Rhynie curled up made him feel even more exhausted. She slept in the middle of the bed though, leaving no room for him to crawl in.**

 **He scratched the bottom of his beak, chuckling to himself. Duke towered over her with a knee sinking into the mattress. Brushing his knuckles against her hair, moving it out of her eyes, the gleam of fresh tears curved along her cheek. Guilt pained his heart, he never really paid attention to the silent way she suffered and nothing made him feel worse when he heard the deep, shaky breath she took.**

 **The thief stepped off of the bed, lifted the blanket and smoothed his way in. Rhynie stirred enough to waken, barely registering his arms that held her tight against him. A firm hand on the back of her head, tucking it just underneath his beak, and the other resting along her spine. Her body melted into his, a reaction she had fallen into when they slept together.**

 **"** **Duke…what's wrong?" Her voice cracked under the pressure of speaking, she hadn't uttered a word since she hid herself inside his room.**

 **"** **Nothing's wrong, sweet heart. I just realized something." He replied, pulling away from her. He cupped her face in his hands and smiled down at her.**

 **"** **What's that?" Her eyes struggled to remain open.**

 **"** **I just realized how much of an idiot I am."**

 **Rhynie yawned, "You're now just realizing that?"**

 **Duke laughed, the old Rhynie, his girl, had surfaced. The girl with a mouth that would have grannies covering their ears and who had a sarcastic wit that no one could match. Rhynie began to drift away as the medicine pulled her back under, she used Duke's arm as a pillow. She never felt his hand resting on her hip, watching her sleep throughout the whole night until he finally passed out.**

 **Author's note: I'm tired. I'm going to bed.**


	7. Chapter 7

**Author's note: What chapter am I on? How have I let this continue for seven chapters? I don't even know. Thanks for reading guys and reviewing. Now I have questions. If the Mighty Ducks were a tea flavor, what would they be? Leave your answer in the review box. I'm making my own tea on adagio and I can't decide if I want to make a single one called Ducks Rock. Or one for every individual. Anyway. I don't own MDAS**

 **Chapter Seven**

"Rise and shine sweet heart!" Duke shouted as he pulled the blanket off Rhynie's curled up body.

She flinched at the sudden brisk breeze, "Not. Funny. Duke."

He grabbed her arms and pulled her up and got her to her feet. He pushed her towards their bathroom and sat her on the toilet. Rhynie rubbed her eyes, the bright lights stinging them until they watered. She heard the water squeak to life and could automatically feel the heat radiating off of shower door.

Duke lifted her arms, but she left them collapse on to her lap—chuckling at her own prank. "C'mon raise your arms."

Rhynie kept giggling as she followed Duke's orders, "You know if you wanted my shirt off, you just needed to ask."

"Ha. Take your pants off and get in the shower. Make it a long one okay?" He kissed her on the forehead, got up to leave, but at the door he turned towards her. "I'll be checking on you."

"You could just join me." She shouted after Duke closed the door.

Duke laughed, "Don't tempt me."

Thirty minutes later Rhynie left the bathroom, feeling somewhat refreshed. She was expecting Duke to be waiting for her in the little living room he had set up after making Earth his adopted home, but he wasn't there. Unlike the rest of his room, which was marble flooring, this medium square was black carpet. In the middle of the plush rug was a large television stand with a flat screen T.V bolted to the wall above. On each side of the T.V stand were bookshelves filled with movies, books and music. The typical entertainment center.

On the dark brown coffee table was food and a note. Rhynie lifted the lid to the hot bowl, not recognizing whatever the soupy stuff was inside, but it was sweet smelling. She flipped the note over, automatically knowing Duke had written it.

"Join me on the ice after you finished eating."

-Duke

Rhynie forced herself to eat the sweet, grainy breakfast and changed into the clothes that she arrived in. Duke had left her a pair of skates on the bench in the locker room and while she strapped herself in she wondered if they were going to have her participate in another training session. The last thing she wanted was to have were those flash backs again, she didn't like how she felt like she couldn't breathe and how every moment of her torture rushed her. It was like Wraith took her sense of control away from her. When she had come to in the infirmary after her fit, Grin was the only one watching over her. He had apologized for checking her like that, but Rhynie smiled and told him that it wasn't his fault.

Sliding out on the ice, Rhynie was a little shocked. The goal posts had been removed and an obstacle course had been set up. Duke stood in the middle with his arms crossed over his chest, wearing a mischievous smile.

"I asked Wildwing if we could have the ring to ourselves today." Duke lazily skated towards her, grabbed her hands and led her around the pond.

"Why does this look familiar?"

"This is how we trained the Brotherhood recruits, remember?" Duke questioned.

How could she forget? Each obstacle course led to a podium with an object on top, if you could get through and to the object without knocking over the podium you won. It was simple looking, but it was actually difficult. It taught all of them how to control their speed—their body, to remain balanced in their core and how to move effortlessly both on and off the ice. When Duke and Rhynie entered the gang at the same time, they were the only ones to completely master the course in such a short amount of time. They challenged each other and even when one of them came out as the loser they were happy. And then Duke became the new leader and immediately he made Rhynie his Lieutenant.

"I'm going to destroy you." Rhynie bolted away from Duke and took her position at the start.

Unbeknownst to Duke and Rhynie, the rest of the team was watching their game up in the announcer's box. They knew Duke was skilled on the ice, he could easily evade their opponents like they were nothing, but Rhynie was unbelievably swift. Even though she was quick, she made it seem effortless—elegant. She skated like a professional ice skater, not a hockey player. Duke could barely keep up with her, he was either doing it on purpose or he just couldn't catch up. When Rhynie reached the end they all thought she was going to crash into the podium, but she did something that surprised them all. She jumped, executing a flawless front flip, grabbing her object and landed on one foot.

"She is definitely not a hockey player, man, not a hockey player." Nosedive managed to utter words after he picked his jaw up.

 **Author's note: Aaaaand cliffhanger. You're welcome. Remember to answer what you think what the Mighty Ducks would taste like if they were a tea. And if you say sweat, I will refuse to post another chapter.**


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter Eight**

 **Author's note: I literally have to ask myself what chapter I'm on every time. Good news is that I'm close to breaking 10,000 words with this little gem. I have two problems though, one is this cold that came out of nowhere. The other is I am now bullshitting this story. I really need to sit down and decide where this baby is going. Also, I think I've been spoiled with loose leaf teas. Lipton teas just don't do it for me anymore and that's all we have at work. I do not own MDAS**

Mallory and Nosedive cornered Duke in the kitchen. It was his turn to make lunch and knowing him it wasn't going to be extravagant, but simple. Tuna sandwiches and whatever giant bags of chips they had lying around. Rhynie wasn't with him, which meant she was probably taking a shower.

"So, Duke, how was your game?" Nosedive asked.

"It looked like a lot of fun." Mallory pretended to be hurt by the fact that they hadn't asked either of them to join their obstacle course.

"Alright, what do you two mooks want?" Duke asked, glaring suspiciously at the two.

"Us?" Nosedive asked dramatically, "We don't want anything. Do we Mal?"

"Nope, sure don't." Mallory shook her head.

"You know, we just want to know where Rhynie picked up those sweet moves." Nosedive quickly asked.

Duke sighed, turned his back to the counter and leaned against it. "This is something you should really be askin' Rhynie."

"Yea well we don't really know her and she's not here." Nosedive nudged Duke in the ribs, "So c'mon tell us! Tell us! Tell us!"

Mallory bluntly asked, crossing her arms over her chest she bluntly stated, "You know he won't stop until you spill, right?"

"Grab those chips and I'll tell you a story." Duke pointed at the top of the fridge where their multiple choices sat.

They gathered around the kitchen table and waited after Duke tore through the first few bites of his sandwich. Nosedive was on the verge of rocketing out of his chair with anticipation and Mallory was getting annoyed that their friend was taking forever.

"Before Rhynie and I got together it took me awhile to get her to tell me anything about herself. I knew the basic stuff about her, but I never knew why or how she joined The Brotherhood of the Blades. Our leader treated her a little better than most and protected her from the ones that would have done some pretty horrible stuff to her. One night, after a successful heist, we were celebrating and Rhynie got a little too drunk."

"What a shocker." Mallory rolled her eyes.

Duke glared at her, "Anyway. She started to open up a little. Turns out Rhynie is from one of the wealthiest families on Puke World."

The two straightened and asked in unison: "How wealthy?"

"Like she's related to one of generals who took out the first wave Saurians one hundred years ago wealthy. And maybe a few politicians and hockey players in the midst."

"Get. Out." Mallory's beak practically dropped to the floor.

Duke smirked, "It gets better. Now her parents were very strict with her. Controlled every aspect of her life. What she ate, wore, hung out with, where she went to school and what she could do in her free time. The only time she actually enjoyed herself was when she was on the ice, as a very talented figure skater."

"Pay up." Nosedive held out his hand to Mallory with a smug smirk tugging at his beak.

Duke ignored their bet, "Rhynie wanted to become a professional ice skater and she was good enough to become one. Her parents, however, wouldn't let her. They took away her skates, cancelled all of her lessons and kept her away from ice rinks all together."

"That's terrible." Mallory muttered. "Why'd they do that to her?"

"Apparently they had her whole life planned for her. They wanted her to become the new leader of Puck World or something." Duke waved off stupid notion and took another hand full of chips. "And of course Rhynie was devastated. She became depressed. Refused to eat, hardly slept and couldn't function. She wanted to be on the ice more than anything and when her parents took that away they basically cut off her legs."

The hockey players knew the feeling well. Besides fighting evil and wanting to get home, they were obsessed with hockey. Taking that away was like signing their death sentence.

"So what'd she do?" Nosedive asked impatiently.

"She did whatever suffocated kid would do in her situation. She ran away. I don't know how she found The Brotherhood of the Blades, but I guess she bought her way in. Gave a sack of her parent's valuables to our leader and he let her join. Smart move on her part."

"Why do you say that?"

"Because if hadn't I'm sure our boss would have taken her for ransom. A girl like Rhynie, back then before we were invaded, was worth a lot. She bought herself protection and as soon as she hit the ice she went back to normal. The hockey stuff came later."

Mallory and Nosedive sat back in their chair and soaked in the new information. Their lunch was left untouched, while Duke had started on his fourth sandwich by the time he finished his story.

"But like I said, you should really ask her this." Duke said smugly.

"Especially since you left out the parts where I constantly beat you at every test." They turned towards the door to see a refreshed Rhynie with Wildwing, Tanya and Grin behind her.

"Oh yea there's that too." Duke added sarcastically.

"How long have you been standing there?" Mallory asked.

"Long enough to hear the whole story." Rhynie giggled and picked up a sandwich. She examined it, "What the hell is this?"

"The only meat we can eat on this planet. It's sort of fish. It taste like those things we had on planet Guerrero, minus the live bugs." Duke explained, standing and pushed Rhynie down in the chair. He leaned against the wall, listening to Rhynie tell the story of how Duke got stuck in a rope trap. They were miles away from their recent heist and their chasers had lost their trail hours ago. So they could afford to stand underneath Duke to laugh at him. Rhynie was the one who threw her knife to cut him down. The only thing Rhynie didn't know was that was the moment that Duke fell for her.

 **Author's note: Everything is wonderful when you can tell embarrassing stories. Please review.**


	9. Author Update

**Hello Readers,**

 **This is an author's updated. Recent events have happened. Nothing bad per say. A lot is happening right now and it's stressful. I have to make difficult adult decisions (I'm not pregnant). I can't focus on anything. I'm also working on a super secret project that has my some what full attention. I'll update Rhynie as soon as I can. Thank you all for reading Rhynie and other stories that you've read.**

 **-Banshee**


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